RSPCA raises £160,000 to prosecute illegal hunts

The RSPCA, Britain's biggest animal welfare charity, has amassed a £160,000
“fighting fund” in just eight weeks to pay for “major prosecutions”
against illegal hunts and other groups, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Gavin Grant, the charity’s chief executive, said the cash in the fund had “skyrocketed” in the wake of its successful action against the Heythrop Hunt, with which David Cameron used to ride before the hunting ban.

Mr Grant disclosed that he had set up the “legal fighting fund” in early December, weeks before the case was due to start against the Heythrop.

He said that since then he had the fund had “already received £160,000 in contributions”, adding: “It is for those individuals who wish to subscribe to the work of the society in major prosecutions which are likely to be costly, as with the Heythrop Hunt, which are complicated and substantial.

“There should be capacity for those individuals who wish to subscribe to be able to do so. So I have established a legal fighting fund – a number of individuals have come forward and subscribed to it.”

The RSPCA spent £326,000 on the Heythrop prosecution – nearly 10 times the cost of the defence’s £35,000 legal bill – some of it on external firms of lawyers when the RSPCA has its own legal team.

Where is your money going? The RSPCA often brings cases of animal cruelty, including hunting, to court Photo: Paul Grover

The judge in the case criticised the charity’s “staggering” prosecution costs and asked whether the cash could be more “usefully employed”.

The Heythrop pleaded guilty to hunting a wild fox with dogs, claiming it could not afford to fight the charges. A former huntsman and huntmaster also pleaded guilty.

After the prosecution MPs and peers wrote to the Charity Commission, which regulates charities, claiming that the RSPCA’s trustees had breached their duty of prudence by sanctioning the prosecution.

This week the Commission cleared the trustees of any wrong doing, although the charity’s trustees were asked to review its prosecution policies.

In the interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Grant denied the charity was pursuing a politically motivated case against the Heythrop.

Sir Edward Garnier, who was solicitor general until September last year, criticised the RSPCA in a Parliamentary debate, suggesting there was a danger of the RSPCA “using the weapon of the state prosecution for political campaigns”.

Mr Grant denied the charity was pursuing a politically motivated case against the Heythrop.

Asked if donations had slowed since the Heythrop case, he said: “No not all - in fact this legal fund has skyrocketed. There has been no reduction.”

Mr Grant, a former chairman of the Liberal Democrats in the west of England, denied that he was pursuing a political agenda.

He said: “I gave that [the Lib Dem role] up to join the RSPCA and so the suggestion that I am pursuing a political career out of this is a nonsense.

“I have good friends in all of the parties and plenty of friends with no political affiliation as well.

“People who know me know I am not interested in scoring party political points – I am interested in animal welfare.”

He said he was keen to help other hunts to obey the law and had written to landowners and hunts asking them to set up a new trade association.

Mr Grant said: “I have written to major land owners and to the various hunt trade bodies suggesting to them that it would be timely to form properly constituted trail and drag hunting association to ensure that hunts were acting within the law.”

On the Heythrop case, Mr Grant said that not one of the charity’s trustees had objected to the prosecution.

He said: “The RSPCA has acted in accordance with its charitable objectives as it has done since it was founded in 1824 to ensure that those who perpetrate abuse of animals and who break the law for profit or for pleasure are brought to justice.”

The RSPCA denied that the Commission had asked it to set up the fund. In a statement last night, the RSPCA added that the legal fighting fund “was set up to give our supporters and the wider public the opportunity to contribute to the full range of the RSPCA's legal work.

“This money will be used in helping to prosecute people who break the law, which includes all illegal activities around animal cruelty and also work in relation to a possible judicial review on the issue of the live export of animals from the UK

“It was not a requirement from the Charity Commission. It was set up before the meeting with the Charity Commission and before the Heythrop Hunt trial.

“We have set up funds like this in the past and around specific issues and welfare campaigns to gain support for the work we do.

“There is nothing unusual about this activity. We will also continue to use our general funds to support our prosecutions work.”